Your mum/life hacks?

[Emlou07]

Aibu to want alllllll the 'hacks' for an easy life

Please share

We have one of those shoe hangers with pockets hung on our coat rack. Each child has one row of pockets. So hat/scarf/gloves go in one, spare gloves in the next, summer hat & sunglasses in summer, then the other pockets are for things like goalie gloves/shin pads or ballet/dance shoes. All handy and by the front door.
I also use one next to the changing table for the baby (very sicky/refluxy baby so lots of change). Each pocket has a nappy, a vest, a babygrow and a nappy bag so I can just grab it all in one go.

We also have a snack box each. Each Sunday every box gets 7 treats to last the week and means there's no "me too" when one person asks for crisps, and also stops DS2 eating all of the oranges or DD1 complaining that all the salt'n'vinegar crisps got eaten before she had any.
It also encourages the kids to eat something when they are hungry or fancy it rather than just because someone else is having one. The only rules are if you waste your dinner then you lose free access to your box until you are mature enough to have it (3yo DD doesn't have free access for example) and if you touch anyone else's then there's hell to pay (and that includes adults).

Get into the habit of taking a photo on a day out at the same time. So, we always take one when we arrive and get out the car. Means there's less chance of it being forgotten.

Also one I was given by a fire officer on a course thing - give your smoke alarm and carbon monoxide alarm a birthday and change the battery on that day. She chose April 1st because as a firefighter she'd look a fool if her alarm didn't work.

Following on from the (controversial) PJs after swimming thing, I saw a woman at swimming lessons the other week who had an an approx 4 year old in a lesson, and a toddler watching with her. After the lesson, the 4 year old went in the shower, then she stripped off the toddler and showered her too. Then both in PJs and off home at 6.30pm. Genius! I wanted to high five her.

thank you I'm definitely nicking the dishwashing and shower gel one will make it easier for me to reach the annoying high tiles

I've also stuck delicate washing bags in each rooms with initials on the band and each dc has been told to put socks and underwear in their own I'm sorting youngest 2 dcs out in hope we can reduce time of sock sorting and missing socks will know by Sunday if it's worked lol

If you live in a hard water area, squeegee your shower screen/cubicle after use. Only takes a few seconds but makes a big difference to build up of limescale deposit.

Oh, and my newest revelation is citric acid to descale EVERYTHING!!
Boil it in the kettle, put it through the coffee machine, through the washing machine... Also use it to clean chrome taps and plugs and clean the sink.

If you're worried about identity fraud (people going through your recycling bins, like they do around here) and you don't have a shredder, soak letters/statements in a bowl of water with a squirt of bleach.

Does that really work?! Brilliant if so, I'm pinching this idea! Got loads to shred and the shredder couldn't cope and died and haven't bothered to replace.

DC1's swim lessons moved from a Saturday morning to a week day at 6pm about a year ago. As we were leaving after the first lesson, I spotted a few kids in onesies and decided to do the same. I love it now as pretty much every kid (including the teenagers in the squad) are there in their onesies and, as the fashion is to have animal ones at the moment, it looks like some sort of zoo or giant cuddly toy shop. We often spend the journey home discussing what type of animal a particular child was supposed to be.

Loving these tips - going to try the toilet roll/bleach round bath seal one for sure..

If I remember to use the ‘one touch’ policy I am less messy.. touch something once (things straight in dishwasher/bin instead of one counter top then moved etc)

Multi task...

taking half drank water through to kitchen? Water plants on route...
Kids in bath? Pluck eyebrows, wipe bathroom down...
Toilet time? Read mumsnet

I buy two cloves of garlic and come home and peel and blend them with olive oil, chilli, salt and pepper. Store in a jar in the fridge. It's an instant marinade for meat, halloumi, veg, and a base for pretty much every meal. Yes you can buy garlic paste in the stores, but it definitely doesn't have as much taste.

When you're at the stage in the mornings when you're shouting "TEETH.... HAIRBRUSH...SHOES..." etc and are losing the will to live, take yourself out of the equation and just write a list of tasks on a whiteboard and leave them to it.

If they haven't managed it themselves they get taken to school as they are. I never had to follow through.

*bulbs of garlic, not cloves!'

Always, always get the kids clothes out, laid out on the floor, including coats, socks and shoes the night before. Saves loads of time, especially if you have many children.

Buy loads of school uniform, including vests and socks. More than you think you’ll need. It’s so cheap these days. Who can be arsed having to wait for a wash load to do to put it in the dryer at 10pm because you’ve run out of polo shirts that cost a quid in Sainsbo’s? I also have two PE kits (v cheap black shorts and plain white t-shire here) formeach child, ready to go in a Oe bag, so I’m not desperately hunting around for one on a Sunday night.

The best tip I ever read online: wear a pair of knickers over your tights to stop them falling down all day - really works a treat!

But then you'll have double vpl.

@Foodylicious OMG. I think you have changed my culinary life with this one. Thank you

lostmyemailaddress you are my idol. I have one baby and am extremely flustered at all times. Please be my life coach

If you take your baby swimming, get yourself a cheap towelling dressing gown. Come out of pool, put dressing gown on whilst drying/dressing baby & you will be dry by the time you are done. MUCH easier than faffing with a towel!

New toothbrushes every equinox and solstice.

Wash all fruit and veg as soon as you get home before putting it away.

Big tupperwares in the fridge to separate cheese, meat, cooked items etc. Easy to see what's running out, easy to clean fridge. Same for cupboards with spice jars etc.

Wipe down jars before putting them back in the cupboard or fridge.

If you have storage space, have a bulk buying list of non-perishables and order online once a month. Have another regular shopping list. You can print this out and cross off any items you already have in. Then add specific items wanted for that week. Stick it on the fridge and add anything you run out of as you go.

Buy a can crusher for recycling. Squash plastic bottles flat. Use a separate box for cardboard - squash boxes flat and 'file' them neatly in the box. More recycling in the same space = less emptying the recycling box.

Give everyone their own basket in the bathroom for toiletries and grooming equipment.

If you have regular medicines, use those weekly divider boxes and fill once a week for each person.

Portion out anything you want to freeze so you can take only the amount you need eg chop meat or fish, slice cheese, butter or bread. Divide soup or cooked dishes into tupperware or recycled containers, then once frozen remove from container and transfer to a single large ziploc and label.

Roast a whole bag of frozen onions at once, freeze in portions to use in recipes.

Get a salad spinner.

Get a show rack or shoe pegs for the hall.

Serve a platter of veg sticks while cooking dinner so hungry people will eat vegetables. You can also serve salad or veg soup as a first course to enhance vitamin consumption.

To remove limescale, soak a rag or newspaper in vinegar and wrap around taps, soak shower head in vinegar water.

Soak any dirty or greasy fabric like napkins in soda crystals or borax substitute before washing.

Put one of those tiny fold-up silk shopping bags in your handbag.

Keep a few quid in the glove box for parking - replenish when your purse is full of change.

• shoe rack

Also, if you have to do anything around the house like change a fuse, put up a shelf, defrost the freezer, get a stain out of the carpet, read the meter, restart the pilot light, back up documents, unscrew the drain under the sink, even pay a bill - get your kids to come and watch so they won't spend their twenties ringing you up when they don't know how to do stuff.

I didn't realise this was a hack until I put it on here on a thread about pancake day.

Make batter and put ti tot he side of the cooker with a ladle in.

On the hob, on a back burner have a plate (burner switched off).

On the front of the hob have two frying pans, one smaller than the other.

Put fat/oil in both pans, ladle batter into smaller pan. Do not flip it, once ready to flip use the pan to tip the pancake into the other pan.

Pour batter into first pan, when it is ready to flip use the second pan to flip onto the plate, get in to a rhythm of, 'pancake on to plate, pancake from pan 1 to pan 2, batter into pan one'.

I have a habit of forgetting things in the morning so if I need something it gets placed just inside the front door so that I cannot physically get out of the house without picking it up. If it is something that cannot be left then I put a post it note on the door, eg "cheesecake in the fridge".

At the supermarket don't go tot he shortest queue, look for the fastest checkout operator.

Register with Pharmacy2U if you use repeat prescriptions - I don’t work for them but my goodness this is going to save me a lot of faffing about and running out of my regular medicine!!

I'm awake and have just bought 6 washing baskets on Amazon I have visions of laminated labels for each of us and me folding clothes straight from the dryer into each one before handing them to my children who will skip upstairs and put them away...

In reality I expect they'll get piled high with screwed up laundry and left in laundry mountain for me to sort when I get fed up enough.

Tie a whiteboard marker onto the fridge door & write shopping lists/notes directly onto the fridge.

Use a dry cloth/paper towel to erase.

Seconding whiteboard marker directly on fridge for meal plan.

Wunderlist app - to share lists with partner. We have shopping list and todo list. Auto updates to each phone, no more forgetting to put stuff on list or leaving list at home.